50K

This is an incredibly diverse course and there is nothing else like it anywhere, so bring your sense of adventure to the coast and LET’S DUNE THIS! The Siuslaw Dunes 50K course (31.2 miles) offers magnificent views on a lollipop-loop style course along open dunes, forested single track trails and remote ocean beaches. The course is dog-friendly, so bring your leashed, capable adventure pup with you.

Runners travel through an assortment of ecological zones, including lush old growth coastal rainforest, riverside estuaries, freshwater lakes, as well as a fascinating transition zone between the dunes and the ocean called the deflation plain, which teems with water-loving plants and animals, especially amphibians and migratory birds.

COURSE MAP

ELEVATION CHANGE

The course includes approximately 2,750' of ascent along with 2,750' of descent. Most of the elevation gain is seen during the forested loop portion, midway through the course.

COURSE SURFACES

The race’s surface terrain types alternate continuously throughout the race, presenting a unique challenge that will demand a runner’s attention and fitness. For example, over a given 5 mile stretch, a runner could see a mile of beach, then a 0.5 mile sandy trail, cross a patch of open dunes, then enter 2 miles of forested singletrack trail, and so on.

Overall, the 50K consists of the following surface types and approximate mileage totals by type:

11.0 miles of forested dirt single track (classic dirt trail with some roots and rocks)

CREW

Crew are welcome at Dunes Overlook Aid Station, Tahkenitch Campground Aid Station and the Start/Finish area only. Parking is limited at the aid stations, and we must leave enough parking for other users.

DROP BAGS

There will be no drop bags available.

PACERS

The event permit does not allow pacers.

Course Detail By Section:

Start to Aid Station 1 (Waxmyrtle Trailhead): Runners depart the Cleawox Day-Use Lodge on a lakeshore path for half a mile around Cleawox Lake, past the Sand Dunes Day-Use parking area before entering the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Runners follow a southerly route following course markings across the open dunes and are immediately greeted with sweeping views of the Oregon Dunes for 4 miles. The course follows a series of Forest Service sign posts, indicating the boundary between non-motorized use and motorized use. Please keep these sign posts on your right, so you remain in the non-motorized area. Exiting the open dunes, the course enters onto a forested sandy trail for .75 mile to Incinerator Trailhead at a flat paved forest road that parallels Siltcoos River. The forest road is followed west for .25 mile to Waxmyrtle Aid Station at Waxmyrtle Trailhead. From the start, it’s 5.5 miles on rolling terrain to Waxmyrtle Aid Station.

Aid Station 1 (Waxmyrtle Trailhead) to Aid Station 2 (Dunes Overlook): Leaving Waxmyrtle Aid Station, runners enter a rolling riverside estuary trail for 1 mile that ends at the beach. Runners head south along this 2.2 mile section of remote ocean beach, which feels almost like a wilderness for great blue herons, sandpipers and gulls, with very few signs of human presence. The course exits the beach at the Oregon Dunes Overlook Trail, a relatively flat meandering path through some lovely shore pine, salal and waxmyrtle forest for approximately .75 mile to the Dunes Overlook Aid Station.

Aid Station 2 (Dunes Overlook) to Aid Station 3 (Tahkenitch Campground) Departing Dunes Overlook Aid Station, runners head south across a mix of dunes and shore pine lined trail for 1.3 miles, sereneded by frogs, hawks and other wildlife, bound by ocean’s ever-present rumble. At this point, runners reach the Tahkenitch Creek crossing, which is a shallow ford that is typically 12-16” deep at most, and a slow, gentle current as it meanders to the ocean. The course picks up on the other side of the creek, then it is 1.7 miles of fantastic rolling dirt singletrack on Tahkenitch Creek Trail to a trail junction where the loop portion of the course begins on Tahkenitch Dunes Trail, a National Recreation Trail. Runners turn left at the junction to begin the loop, traveling inland across sandy trail for half a mile and a brief area of open dunes before entering deep, old forest for another half mile, then turn left at a trail junction and follow for .25 mile to Tahkenitch Aid Station at Tahkenitch Campground and Day-Use Area.

Aid Station 3 (Tahkenitch Campground) to Aid Station 4 (Dunes Overlook): Leaving Tahkenitch Aid Station, runners return the .25 mile trail to get back on the loop, then veer left to continue the clockwise loop. Runners veer left to regain the loop on Three Mile Lake Trail for 3 miles of hilly supremely blissful old growth forest singletrack. As the course exits the forest for more sandy shore pine trail sections, the route turns north back up to the junction to complete the loop portion and get back on Tahkenitch Creek Trail, cross Tahkenitch Creek once again at the ford, then follow the trail back up to Dunes Overlook Aid Station.

Aid Station 4 (Dunes Overlook) to Aid Station 5 (Waxmyrtle Campground): Departing Dunes Overlook, runners return the way they came, heading back out to the beach, then up the beach 2.2 miles to Waxmyrtle Trail, then along Waxmyrtle Trail to Waxmyrtle Aid Station.

Aid Station 5 (Waxmyrtle Campground) to Finish (Honeyman State Park): Runners leave the Waxmyrtle Aid Station along the paved forest road over to re-enter the hilly forested sandy trail at Incinerator Trailhead. Upon re-entering the main 4 mile open dunes section of the course, remember to keep the Forest Service sign posts on your left in order to remain in the non-motorized area of the dunes. After 4 miles on the dunes, you’ll see Cleawox Lake, and know you’re almost back to the finish! The course then descends down the last dune to the lake shore path (yes, you will hear and see us cheering for you!) for the final half-mile around the lake where runners finish at the Cleawox Lake Day-Use lodge patio with hugs and high fives with friends and family!

CANCELLATIONS

This event is granted by a Special Use Permit through the Siuslaw National Forest, U.S. Forest Service and Oregon State Parks. In accordance with State and Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. The State of Oregon and USDA are equal opportunity providers and employers.